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The use of counterfeit $100 bills has reportedly been on the rise in the Greenwich area, and customers and merchants should be on the lookout for the bogus bills, police said.

Periodically we receive reports of counterfeit money being passed around, said Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the department. The Secret Service is investigating, but we assist when it comes to our attention. On Feb 12, two suspects used counterfeit $100 bills at the CVS and Post Road Liquor store in Cos Cob. Police are investigating, but no arrests have yet been made.

Currency has been counterfeited for years and years, so whenever theres a counterfeit bill being passed in a particular area, it gets noticed right away, said Robert Barrett of the
U.S. Secret Service
. As a whole, theres not a spike in counterfeit being circulated. Barrett said thus far no correlation has been found between a rise in counterfeit currency because of holiday shopping or the downturn of the economy.

The U.S. Secret Service was founded in 1865 for the purpose of suppressing counterfeit currency. Back then, upward of 1,600 banks were producing different notes and one-third to half of all currency was counterfeited, said Barrett. Today, the amount of U.S. currency that is counterfeited is one-one-hundredth of 1 percent [.001 percent), which is a very small fraction.

If a merchant receives counterfeit money, he or she does not have to return it to the customer. The one thing we do ask is not to get into a confrontation. We want people to be safe, said Barrett. Merchants are advised to get a description of the individual, possibly a car and license plate number, and contact local police.

We do a very good job of keeping counterfeit currency out of circulation, said Barrett. A large part of counterfeit currency that does get passed is detected almost immediately by merchants or once it reaches the bank.

Anyone with information regarding the use of counterfeit money at the CVS and Post Road Liquor store should contact Detective David Wilson at 203-622-8054.